Gunman Goes on LA-Area Shooting Rampage

Source: AP

(AP) Six family members escaped a gunman rampaging through their house Thursday by climbing through a window and hiding on a roof as a room-to-room attack left a father, son and daughter dead and the mother critically wounded, authorities said.

Joseph Mercado, 26, is suspected of shooting and killing 25-year-old Serena Tarin, his ex-girlfriend, with an assault-style rifle in what appeared to be a domestic dispute involving custody issues with their 9-month-old son, sheriff's homicide Lt. Don Slawson said. Mercado also poured gasoline on an exterior wall but failed to light it with a match, Slawson said.

The attack was halted when two patrol deputies rushed to the home after hearing a burst of gunfire. They confronted Mercado as he left the house carrying a gun. One of the deputies shot at Mercado, who was arrested after a bullet grazed his head.

"I believe if the deputies weren't there, we'd have a lot more deceased, and the house would be burned to the ground,'' Slawson said.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/07/national/main6468068.shtml

LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA I can't hear you...LALALALALALALALALA...

Particularly as they pertain to some men thinking they somehow own mates and offspring, therefore mayhem is too often the response to failure of mate to accept being property.

At the root, this is more akin to OK laws on abortion than about guns. Some cannot accept that others are allowed to make decisions on their own. It's about control.

:nuke:

And how to get out of their grasp safely.

I was taught how to walk and sit at school as a young teen. If someone had instead taught me how to spot abusers, that would have been more useful!

It is about control. She wasn't going to be controlled, so she was going to be eliminated... an affront to his male dominance.

I've taught gun safety and safe gun handling to more than 100 people in my life. Mostly teenagers and young adults who never had the opportunity to learn from an experienced instructor.

You gun ban enthusiasts are the ones who aren't doing anything, other than blathering vague platitudes on the Interwebz and offering no specific ideas.

Gun safety should be taught in public schools.

This is a problem. Guns in public schools is a HUGE problem! Some Los Angeles schools no longer allow students to have lockers because of the gun problems.

Sorry, but from this Angeleno's perspective, your idea of public schools teaching gun safety is fucking nuts.

I've been shooting all of my life, over 40 years. I trust me, I trust a few friends (one is a SWAT officer), but that's it. Until you can determine who is mentally able to handle this massive responsibility... forget it.

Even if you could determine mental worthiness, there's no reason for some of these weapons to be available.

We teach kids how to deal with rattlesnake encounters, and what to do if they are attacked by aggressive bees.

We teach kids how to administer first aid.

We try teach kids to avoid dangerous drugs and risky sexual behaviors.

We used to teach kids how to drive safely.

We teach kids how to swim.

All of these things are or have in the past been taught in public schools. Most parents are not competent to teach their children what to do when they encounter a firearm that has been negligently left lying around. People who haven't gotten any training usually pick up the weapon, put their finger through the trigger guard, and don't think much about what direction they are pointing it. A very young child may point it at another child and pull the trigger, because they aren't clear on the distinction between toys and weapons.

Gun safety is not something that people get instinctively, or by reading about it. Proper training involves practicing correct behaviors hands-on, using either a simulated weapon or an unloaded real one that is under strict control of an expert.

Every child deserves to learn how to safely unload and secure the most common types of firearms, or at the very least learn not to touch them at all.

"Every child deserves to learn how to safely unload... "

No. I disagree. If anything, they should be taught to leave the damn thing lying where it is and get an adult... perhaps to guard against any others messing with it. Any gun left lying around is suspect, especially in this era of terrorism. No child should touch an unattended weapon of any kind, for any reason.

Again, exactly as it is with adults, not every child has the wherewithal to be anywhere near a loaded weapon. Some people are just not up to serious gun safety, and no amount of training is going to change that.

I started gun safety training when I was 7, and wasn't allowed to even touch my .22 single shot bolt action rifle until I was nine. Then I wasn't allowed to shoot it until I proved I could break it down, clean it, and put it back together again. I'm no stranger to this idea of gun safety. I taught my three children gun safety as well. I know my kids. They are intelligent and responsible. I trust them... I don't trust anyone I haven't been shooting with and have had the opportunity to view their practices myself.

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:wtf:

scary rifles are banned in CA. Like murder, also banned.

"Nobody do anything about guns in this country"

I've been doing something about gun safety for about 30 years; something that could actually prevent injuries or deaths. You haven't done jack shit, other than spewing one-line platitudes and demeaning your fellow Democrats who happen to know something about the subject.

Mr. and Ms. America, turn 'em in!

Mr. and Ms. America, turn 'em in!

Good bye Fourth Amendment.

And shit on the Constitution and wipe our asses with the Bill of Rights while we're there.

Very scary. A deputy was shot and killed about two blocks from there a couple of years ago. It's the hot spot between gangs... Artesia and Varrio Hawaiian Gardens.

Happy you're safe.

We have some awesome neighbors... and some real asshats that make life tough for the rest of us.

:hide:

past few generations. We just don't seem to be able to get along with each other. And, yeah, it is primarily over the male domination of females.

We don't seem to be able to control primal urges when things go wrong. If it weren't guns, it would be knives or clubs or stones.

Both genders seem to be making the same mistakes over and over again and this is the result of those mistakes.

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Quit hating on El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula... we're cutting edge for everything the US comes to love... the best things happen here first.

tragic loss for the family.

:sarcasm: